To Cable or not to Cable

[eggwards]

Well, I chose the expensive apartment, and I will be moving over (since it's across the busy, 8 lane street) on September 27th. It's nice, and new and has all the stuff I want. I also get to choose what to do with my cable TV provider.

Running Rats Acres has a service called TVMax. It's off-brand cable, and despite the fact that they have Bravo, there isn't much else. I'm thinking about getting Time Warner digital cable in the new place, rather than going with a dish, and really there's only one reason - Road Runner internet.

Right now I'm on SBC DSL, and have a phone line. I never use the phone line, and would like to get rid of the expense by going with the cable modem. Who has a cable modem? Is it reliable? i've really liked having DSL, so I hope the service would be comparable.

The other question, if I don't have a phone line, can I still use a TiVo? I want to get a TiVo, and I'm not sure if Time Warner offers one with it's service yet. Can I connect it through the Cable Modem?

Otherwise, I've got movers for the heavy stuff, which will be especially good since the new place is on the 3rd floor. Yes, the Icon will be lording over all at the Old Farm Apartments (the site used to be a family farm, still, until 1998, yet it's still here in the city). The view is nice, the apartment has more light than my current cave, and has a washer/dryer! That will be so sweet! My furniture will probably look bad in there!




x. name = Michael Edwards
x. birthday = August 3, 1967
x. piercings = None
x. tattoos = None of those, either.
x. height = 6'1"
x. weight= Do I have to? Damn, 300+
x. shoe size = 11
x. eye color= hazel (green with gold specks)
x. hair color = Dark Brown
x. length = short
x. siblings = younger sister, Laura
x. pets = none at present.

Last...
x. movie you rented = The Rookie with Dennis Quaid
x. movie you bought = The New Happy Tree Friends:Volume Two (thanks gadgetguy!)(hasn't arrived yet)
x. song you listened to = Can't Get Enough Of You Baby, by Smashmouth
x. song that was stuck in your head = Gloria - Laura Brannagan, Greg did that at work yesterday.
x. song you've downloaded = Speed Graphic EP, Ben Folds on Apple's iTunes Music Store
x. CD you bought = D-D-D-Don't Stop the Beat, by Junior/Senior
x. CD you listened to = Let Go, by Avril Levigne
x. book you read= A Home at the End of the World, by Michael Cunningham (thanks davomatic!)
x. person you've called = Chris (oakleycub)
x. person that's called you = Do voice mails count? then Chris, talk - Jason (t8r)
x. TV show you've watched = Queer Eye for the Straight Guy last night
x. person you were thinking of = John (blithwulf) who's driving to Fargo today.

Do...
x. you have a bf or gf = Yes!
x. you have a crush on someone = "I have a crush on EVERY boy" - Teen Girl Squad
x. you wish you could live somewhere else = Yes. I've been in Houston for 25 years - Next!
x. you think about suicide = Not in the last few years. Did when I was younger.
x. you believe in online dating = I suppose. I'm an LJ success story, aren't I?
x. others find you attractive = yes. I'm constantly surprised by it, though.
x. you want more piercings = I like the look on others, buy I'm scared, personally.
x. you want more tattoos = I'd have to get the first. I probably couldn't decide on a design.
x. you drink = Occasionally, socially.
x. you do drugs = No.
x. you smoke = Nope. (except for a college acting role) Love the smell of a pipe, though.
x. you like cleaning = Nope. I try to not be a total slob, though.
x. you like roller coasters = Yes, they're great!
x. you write in cursive or print = It's a sort of curs-printing. It might make a good font.
x. you carry a donor card = No. haven't given it that much thought.

For or against
x. long distance relationships = Well, here I am in one.
x. using someone = Against!!!
x. suicide = Is anyone for this? (different than "pulling the plug", or course)
x. killing people = I think there's some use for it, but i know I couldn't make that decision.
x. teenage smoking = Against. Not a fan of smoking.
x. doing drugs = Neither. I'm just Switzerland when it comes to pot, fine, whatever. Harder drugs I'm not as tolerant about.
x. premarital sex = Seeing that i can't get married in this state, officially, then it's fine with me.
x. driving drunk = Against. Duh?
x. gay/lesbian relationships = No! Never! How Gross! (oh, really?...me?...you're telling me I'm in one?...Oh, well that changes...) Yes, they are very good.
x. soap operas = Big no for the daytime soaps. I do like ER, and that's a soap.

Favorite...
x. food[s] = mac and cheese, burgers, pasta
x. song = today? geez, this changes all the time. Still love "Move Your Feet by Junior/Senior
x. thing to do = Television, swimming, driving
x. thing to talk about = whatever comes up
x. sports = Baseball is my favorite. Then Football and Hockey. I like Rugby as well. Basketball is the worst - I'll watch soccer first.
x. drinks = Dr. Pepper (make that Diet Dr. Pepper), Diet Vanilla Coke, Shiner Bock
x. clothes = whatever is comfy...business cas at work, so I have a lot of Dockers.
x. movies = Kevin Smith films. comedies
x. band = BareNaked Ladies can't wait for the new album this fall.
x. holiday = I have no idea. There just days off to me. My family doesn't really celebrate much.
x. cars = Love my X-Terra. Like the new VW Toureg

Have you...
x. ever cried over a girl = Yes. Leighza, the high school girl
x. ever lied to someone = It's happened before.
x. ever been in a fist fight = Yes, I'm rather poor at it, though.

What...
x. shampoo do you use = Suave.
x. perfume do you use = uh, none.
x. shoes do you wear = Skechers oxfords or sneakers
x. are you scared of = ladders

Number...
x. of times I have been in love? uhhh. hmm. Once or twice?
x. of times I have had my heart broken? Once
x. of hearts I have broken? = three
x. of boys I have kissed? = Couple of dozen now?
x. of girls I have kissed? = Three or Four
x. of continents I have lived in? = 1
x. of drugs taken illegally? one.
x. of people I would classify as true, could trust with my life friends? = around 5
x. of people I consider my enemies? = none.
x. of people from high school that I stayed in contact with? = none.
x. of CD's that I own? = I guess about 250
x. of times my name has appeared in the newspaper? = college bylines count? a few hundred.
x. of scars on my body? = A couple, including an Xacto knife scar on my hand.
x. of things in my past that I regret? = a couple

Comments

[marinebear.livejournal.com]

we have cable modem at the apt. its through comcast I think and its fairly reliable. of course we have wifi to 3 computers so it can get laggy at times. but if its just you you should be fine. of course DSL is always nice. :)

[animecub.livejournal.com]

I have Comcast here in Boston. The connection is great, although it's depending on how far you are from there hub. I am really happy with it though.

About TiVO, if you have internet connection, TiVo 2 will be able to update the program using Internet conection which mean you will have to get a hub to split the singnal for computer/TiCO/etc. TiVO is one of the best thing to have, it free me up to do whatever I want in the afternoon and evening without having to be in front of the TV when the show that I want to watch is on.

Good Luck with the move.

[jaybear.livejournal.com]

Alex (darke) and soon myself use cell phones and Time Warner Cable / Road Runner exclusively in San Antonio.

Time Warner in San Antonio has a package where you can rent a TiVo like product from them if you have digitial cable. I beleive the total additional cost of rental plus recording service is $10.00 per month.

[t8r.livejournal.com]

You can hook your TiVo Series 2 to a wireless or wired ethernet and it will get program and software updates via the internet. You will have to buy a USB network adapter. Supported adapters are listed on the web site.

Configuring it was as simple as plugging the ethernet into the adapter, then plugging it into the TiVo. Tivo automatically configured it, got a DHCP address, and changed my configuration to update from the network instead of via dialup. Been working flawlessly ever since.

Cable/TiVo

[e-ticket.livejournal.com]

Yes, you can connect your TiVo to your cable modem connection by giving in a USB ethernet connector, and running it through your router (TiVo also lets you share any music/photo folders that reside on PCs/Macs on your network, too -- pretty cool stuff). You can even connect TiVo via Wireless Ethernet WiFi, if you're so inclined.

Regarding DSL vs. Cable Modem -- I've had both TWICE now, in various flavors and cities. Overall, the speed is fairly similar. The whole "cable modems are slow because you share them with your neighborhood" argument, I haven't found to be true -- I've consistently gotten great throughput on both Cable *and* DSL -- your locality may vary.

But, I found my DSL experiences to be more of a hassle for setup, and it went down more often. Because I had to deal with your local phone company *and* your DSL ISP, it became a nightmare when there were problems, and customer service kinda went out the window. With cable, it's been much easier -- cable feed goes into magic box, magic box spits out ethernet. Simple. And only one company to deal with.

Time Warner

[houstongwm.livejournal.com]

Listening to the time warner ads - if you get digital cable - i think you automagically get their tivo-like service ...

I use time warner cable for internet connection at the museum ... the only gripe i really have about it is that it periodically loses it's lease on the IP address - and when it does that i generally have to power off the damn box and power it back on to reconnect - but - we only use the museum connection 2 or 3 times a month - so with more constant use - that may not be a problem at all - overall it is as fast or faster than my dsl at home

[hylandr.livejournal.com]

I have cable through Adelphia and have had few problems with it. I get decent speeds too. (Better at my old apartment in the same complex, so I think the wiring here is wonky, but it's still good.) Not sure on the TiVo bit, but connection-wise, I'd say the cable is fine.